PARC Security & Privacy

Security & Privacy
Developing technologies that intelligently support usable security and privacy for ubiquitous computing environments

The proliferation of networked devices has long posed a security challenge in protecting sensitive content, along with a usability challenge for people trying to access it.

Similarly, as people increase their virtual presence – personally and professionally – users are unaware of the many real threats to privacy.

PARC Approach

PARC’s pioneering work in ubiquitous computing highlighted the need for a world-class research capability in security. With expertise in applied cryptography, human factors, and network security, PARC researchers are developing new technologies that intelligently support usable security and privacy for ubiquitous computing environments.

While our security researchers' work is often a key component of client-sponsored engagements, the team has also developed turnkey security and privacy solutions.

Focus Areas

Usable Security — enabling easy management of large networks of devices, as well as usable access control for distributed content
Privacy-preserving Data Management — using inference control to identify and manage privacy breaches
Content Protection — using semi-automated methods for protecting documents, based on deep content analysis

Team & Activities

Contributors

Selected Publications

Making CAPTCHAs Clickable, HotMobile 2008

A content-driven access control system, IDTrust '08

Private Social Network Analysis: How to Assemble Pieces of a Graph Privately, Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society
[2007 Runner-Up Award for Outstanding Research in Privacy Enhancing Technologies, PET Workshop]

Vault: Practical Uses of Virtual Machines for Protection of Sensitive User Data, Proceedings of The 3rd Information Security Practice and Experience Conference

Web-based inference detection, USENIX Security 2007

Cryptanalysis of a cognitive authentication scheme, IEEE Security and Privacy 2007

Instant Matchmaking: Simple Secure Virtual Extensions to Ubiquitous Computing Environments, International Conference of Ubiquitous Computing 2006

Data Collection with Self-Enforcing Privacy, ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security 2006

Revisiting the Uniqueness of Simple Demographics in the U.S. Population, Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society

Deterring voluntary trace disclosure in re-encryption mix networks, IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2006

Auditable privacy: On tamper-evident mix networks, Tenth International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security

A private stable matching algorithm, Tenth International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security